4 ms·

We get our N that way, not our K and P

• defrost 3y ago
  Potash salts (for Potassium (K)) are relatively adundant in the crust and if pressed can always be recovered from organics in the traditional manner. High-grade phosphate rock (for Phosphorus (P)) is the declining resource, or perhaps more accurately isn't matched by our ever increasing demand for it in fertilizers as our human population grows. For now at least we're coasting along on increased beneficiation of lower grade ore through washing, flotation and calcining. It's a fair point - I'm personally in the "let's see fewer humans overall camp", I'm not advocating genocide, just in favour of birth rates continuing to decline until we're back between (say) 4 to 6 billion. Unlimited growth in a petri dish has obvious issues, even if the dish is the surface of a relatively large sphere.